Tellarknight
"tellarknight" (テラナイト teranaito) is an archetype that debuted in Duelist Alliance. It is mainly composed of LIGHT Warrior monsters that focus on the quick and easy Summoning of monsters, their effects often activating upon being Summoned by any means, including Normal Summon, Special Summon and even Flip Summon. This archetype's artwork, name and type of gameplay is similar to that of the "Constellars". The archetype contains a sub-archetype, "Stellarknight". Origin Lore As if in a resonance with the birth of the giant divine dragon "Baxia, Brightness of the Yang Zing" by "Chiwen, Light of the Yang Zing"’s power, warriors of light descended from the brilliant stars in the sky. They are the descendents of the "Constellar", the brigade of saviors that fought to save this planet in the previous great war. "Constellar Sombre", being herself the result of the fusion of the 12 "Constellar" heroes, released the power of the 12 constellations, the "12 constellation rings", from herself, and returned them to the new warriors. The warriors of light, upon regaining that power, turned them into the "Tellarings", and transformed themselves into the Tellarknight, the protectors of the planet. With their new power, the warriors headed toward the battlefield to confront the "Shaddoll". Names This archetype's name is a portmanteau of the words "(s)tellar"/"(sa)tellar" and "knight". The "Satellarknight" monsters are named after the brightest stars in our night sky, while the "Stellarknight" monsters are named after the asterisms formed by those stars. The background of their artworks all feature the constellations that contain their respective namesake stars, with the locations of said stars in those constellations denoted by the star being distinctly encircled. Artworks Members Each star mainly comes from a constellation that was present in the Almagest, a work describing the original 48 constellations created by Ptolemy in the second century. Through their artworks, some spell cards shows the creation of certain monsters: Playing style The archetype focuses on rapid swarm tactics and easy pluses through its "Satellarknight" monsters, both of which are used to fuel the Summon of the "Stellarknight" Xyz Monsters. This generally revolves around the use of "Satellarknight Altair" and "Satellarknight Vega" in succession to generate advantage and field presence, with the one played second Summoning another "tellarknight" to the field. At this point, multiple options can be pursued based on the situation, allowing the archetype a great level of toolboxing capabilities. ''Main Deck'' Summoning "Satellarknight Deneb" allows the player to add 1 "tellarknight" monster from their Deck to their hand. Although this excludes Spell/Trap support, it is of invaluable help to the archetype, as it is not only the third Xyz Material needed to Summon a "Stellarknight" monster but also sets up later Xyz plays with "Altair" and "Vega". "Satellarknight Alsahm" is another useful card for the theme, as it goes some way to secure potential OTK opportunities. With its 1000 LP deduction, "Alsahm" can be used alongside the "Magician"/"Odd-Eyes" Pendulum engine to perform one example of an OTK using a "tellarknight" Deck. It is also useful throughout a duel in damage limitation, such as against popular meta game threats such as "Solemn Warning" and "Soul Charge". "Satellarknight Unukalhai" can be a big help in setting up plays with "Altair", and makes itself at home in the slower non-Pendulum variant. Although its effect can be somewhat lackluster when used in conjunction with the aforementioned Pendulum engine it can occasionally be of some use, especially in combination with "Satellarknight Skybridge" for an immediate tag-out for "Altair". Its 1800 ATK also makes it useful in attacking over monsters when the Extra Deck is unavailable (this is most notable when you cannot Special Summon, such as when facing "El Shaddoll Winda", "Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo", "Archlord Kristya" or "Vanity's Emptiness"). First introduced in The New Challengers were "Satellarknight Betelgeuse", "Satellarknight Procyon" and "Satellarknight Sirius". All of them focus on manipulating your hand and Graveyard, with the latter two allowing you to draw while the former trades field presence for recycling. Ending your combo with "Betelgeuse" can be useful if you have more monsters than necessary to Summon the desired Xyz Monster. Then, after using that monster's effect, "Betelgeuse" can return the detached material to your hand for use next turn. Although "The Warrior Returning Alive" may seem like a wiser choice, as it does not require you to Summon anything and does not run the risk of monster interception, "Betelgeuse" can reach the hand or field very easily and can also serve as an Xyz Material if no other monsters are available. Finally, its 1900 DEF makes it the second strongest Main Deck monster defensively (besides "Satellarknight Capella"), making him a suitable wall against almost all meta game Level 4 or lower monsters stat-wise. "Procyon" can sometimes be useful not only for easy draws, but also for turning "Deneb" searches into "Altair" or "Sirius" targets. When used alongside "Sirius, it can allow for quite a strong draw engine; however, this can take time and does not keep up with the high Xyz-churning speed of the Deck. Also, considering that such a combo can strike inconsistency between "Vega" and "Altair", "Procyon" is seen by most as a poor card that does nothing to fix the archetype's flaws or contribute to its play style. By far the best Main Deck card released for "tellarknights" in The New Challengers, "Sirius" helps the Deck in many ways and resolves previously unaddressed problems. It serves as a "Pot of Avarice" for the Deck and, despite only providing 1 extra card, lets the "tellarknights" regain resources and "Deneb" search targets. All going well, its effect is almost always live after a couple of Xyz plays and, like "Betelgeuse", can be left on the field after a play to clean up the Graveyard and top it off with a draw. Be aware, however, that this can mitigate the grave-loading effects of "Unukalhai" and "Procyon", and limit the effectiveness of "Altair". At the same time, both of the aforementioned cards can be used in combination with "Sirius", as said combo either leaves cards in the Deck (with "Unukalhai") or puts cards from your hand into the Deck for extra draws beforehand (with "Procyon") and effectively allows for free draws, whilst also leaving/making targets for "Skybridge". ''Extra Deck'' Thus far, there are five "Stellarknight" Xyz monsters: "Delteros", "Triverr", "Diamond", "Ptolemaeus" and "Batlamyus". Introduced in Duelist Alliance as the archetype's first Xyz boss, "Delteros" has three effects. The first is a Continuous Effect that prevents your opponent from activating cards or effects upon the Summon of ANY monster you control whilst "Delteros" has Xyz Material, including "Delteros" itself: since the "Satellarknights" and "Triverr" all work upon their Summon, this effect is extremely helpful in securing your long strings of Summons to create your Xyz Monsters against anti-Summon threats such as "Bottomless Trap Hole", "Torrential Tribute" and "Solemn Warning". The second is an Ignition Effect: by detaching 1 Xyz Material from "Delteros", you can destroy 1 card on the field. This effect is less useful than it might seem at first, since the meta game is riddled with cards that either can't be destroyed or rely on destruction, and it also can only be used twice before the first effect of "Delteros" becomes useless. The final effect Special Summons a "tellarknight" from your hand or Deck when "Delteros" hits the Graveyard from the field, allowing the Deck to maintain advantage and field presence. For this reason, it is often good to leave "Delteros" on the field for at least a turn before using it, as you will then be able to use your the effects of "tellarknight" when "Delteros" is destroyed. This archetype can Summon rather easily "Number 86: Heroic Champion - Rhongomyniad" at full power to devastate your opponent's resources if played well. "Triverr" is a very powerful card and a welcome addition to the "tellarknight" entourage. Unlike "Delteros", "Triverr" requires 3 Level 4 "tellarknights" to be Summoned, but you must not have Summoned other monsters that turn, except "tellarknight" monsters. Upon its Xyz Summon, "Triverr" returns all other cards on the field to the hand. This already powerful ability can be combined with the first effect of "Delteros" to prevent anything from stopping "Triverr". Once per turn, "Triverr" can send a random card from your opponent's hand to the Graveyard by detaching 1 material, a potentially deadly effect for themes that require a large and/or specific hand setup. The final effect is much the same as "Delteros", except "Triverr" Special Summons the replacement "tellarknight" from the Graveyard instead, if Triverr had material still. Another advantage to "Triverr" is the fact that its all-field-bounce effect can reuse dead copies of "Call of the Haunted" and "Fiendish Chain", much like how "Giant Trunade" did in the past. "Stellarknight Constellar Diamond" introduced in Secrets of Eternity, can be Xyz Summoned by using a "tellarknight" Xyz Monster you control as the Xyz Material during Main Phase 2. Alternatively, the effect of Satellarknight Capella can be used to make any Level 4 "tellarknight" monsters you control Level 5 to fulfill the Summoning condition of "Diamond". This card's three effects are highly effective against "Lightsworn" Decks, as well as DARK Decks such as "Dark World", "Shaddolls" and "Infernity". "Tellarknight Ptolemaeus", introduced in Crossed Souls, can be Xyz Summoned with two or more Level 4 monsters. This Deck can easily gather as many materials as needed on the field, preferably three or more, to use the first effect of "Ptolemaeus". This effect uses "Ptolemaeus" and its Xyz Materials to Summon a Rank 5 non-"Number" monster. A common tactic is to use the effect of "Ptolemaeus" to Summon "Cyber Dragon Nova", then use it to Summon "Cyber Dragon Infinity". The turn-skipping effect of "Ptolemaeus" will rarely come into play unless the player has attached "Stellarknight" monsters to it or used cards such as "Overlay Regen". Both OCG and TCG saw its first effect too powerful that it is now Forbidden on both sides. "Darktellarknight Batlamyus", introduced in ''Invasion: Vengeance'', ''can be Xyz Summoned with two "tellarknight" monsters. Its first effect is Continuous and makes all monsters on the field become DARK attribute. This effect seems lackluster at glance but combined with "Constellar Diamond" it can force opponents to think carefully of what monster effects on the field they want to activate. Its second effect allows you "Rank Up" into a different "tellarknight" Xyz monster, by detaching 1 material then discarding 1 card, in case you can't make "Triverr" or "Delteros" with 3 material, though it can allow you to Xyz Summon "Constellar Diamond" during Main Phase 1 with ease. This effect can be activated during either player's turn, if you have 7 or more "tellarknight" with different names in your Graveyard, but players usually don't bother pulling it off. Weaknesses * The whole deck revolves around Special Summoning, and is very easy to counter. Utilizing "Vanity's Emptiness", "Vanity's Ruler", "Vanity's Fiend" or "Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo" can completely shut down the deck, though "tellarknights" can utilize "Honest" to defeat these floodgate monsters in battle. *The deck is very prone to negation effects. "Majesty's Fiend" or "Skill Drain" will stop the "Altair"-"Vega"-"Deneb" combo, as well as the Xyz Monsters. "Lose 1 Turn" can also prove very problematic, negating all effects of "tellarknight" monsters when they're Special Summoned. * "tellarknights" rely a lot on their Graveyard. If you want to counter the deck, play cards that banishes from your opponent's Graveyard, such as "D.D. Crow" or "Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier". * Going against decks that play "Masked HERO Dark Law" is a nightmare for "tellarknights". "Dark Law" completely counters the vital effects of "Deneb" and "Unukalhai", making you lose very important advantage. * The deck has a very slow start, relying a lot on trying to Summon "Deneb" very early in the game to gain quick advantage, or "Unukalhai" to set up for "Altair" next turn. If you don't draw either the aformentioned, your opponent will catch up to you fast. * Most of the main deck monsters have a maximum of 1800 ATK (except "Rigel" that can goes up to 2400 ATK). * Hand traps such as "Effect Veiler" and "Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring" can be real gear grinders for this deck, preventing you from gaining advantage. A well-timed "Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit" can prevent you from Summoning an Xyz Monster. Trivia * This archetype has won the Yu-Gi-Oh! 2015 World Championship. * Complementary colors are used in the artworks of Altair, Vega, Sirius, Unukalhai and Procyon. * "Betelgeuse" and "Rigel" are the only "tellarknight" monsters to share the same constellation: Orion. * "Darktellarknight Batlamyus" is the only member to not figure any constellation in his background, aswell as the only DARK monster in the archetype. * "Stellarknight Zefraxciton" and "Stellarknight Constellar Diamond" are the only members to not be Warrior Type monsters. ** "Stellarknight Constellar Diamond" is the only monster that isn't Level/Rank 4. *** It is the only member to be part of the "Constellar", "tellarknight" and "Stellarknight" archetypes. * "Satellarknight Zefrathuban" and "Stellarknight Zefraxciton" are the only Pendulum monsters. ** They're also the only members to be part of the "Zefra", "tellarknight" and "Stellarknight" archetypes. * "Stellarknight Zefraxciton", named after the Musca constellation, is the only member whose constellation is not one of the original 48 constellations created by Ptolemy. ** He's also the only one to be a "Stellarknight", despite he's not an Xyz Monster. *** This difference can be explained with the fact that he is named after a constellation, and not a star. * In general, the kanji for "Satellarknight" and "Stellarknight" monsters could be roughly translated as "Star Factor Knight" and "Starlight Knight", respectively. However, there are some 'unique' "tellarknight" monsters which also have unique translation for their kanji: ** The "Satellarknight" part of "Zefrathuban" (read as "Aesatellarknight" in Japanese) translates into "Dracomet Star Factor Knight". The 'dracomet' part also shares the same kanji for "Yang Zing" (竜星 ''ryūsei), showing their relation to each other. ** The "Stellarknight" part of "Zefraxciton" (read as "Astellarknight" in Japanese) translates into "Awakened Starlight Knight". This might be a philosophy for "Evilswarm Exciton Knight" being 'awakened' into a "Stellarknight". ** The "tellarknight" part of "Ptolemaeus" and "Batlamyus" translates into "Starguard Knight" and "Purgatory Knight", respectively. Decklist Recommended cards Zefra Tellarknight This deck focuses on swarming the field through Pendulum Summon, and using the effects of the "tellarknight" Pendulum Monsters to destroy your opponents cards. Star Seraph Tellarknights This deck uses the powerful "Star Seraph Scepter" and "Star Seraph Sovereignty" also referred to as "The Stick and Chair Combo". When you Summon Scepter while you have a Sovereignty in hand, you can add another Sovereignty to your hand, then special the first Sovereignty from your hand, drawing a card and triggering the second copy to draw another card. Most commonly after placing these 3 level 4 monsters on the field, you will summon "Stellarknight Delteros". This card will allow you to destroy a card other than itself on summon and draw a card for it. Then Delteros can destroy another card on the field including itself if needed. Delteros also allows for helpful "Link Summon" loops with "Satellarknight Altair" for later situations in the game. You can also add some "Counter Fairy" support to this strategy. Since your Star Seraph monsters are Fairy, you can search them with "Power Angel Valkyria". You can also search "Stellarnova Alpha" with "Guiding Ariadne" if you destroy it with Scepter or Delteros. Category:TCG and OCG archetypes